It is a long story, but it appears the gay group that booked the cruise first changed ships (without pre-approving that with the customers) and put the curise on a ship where there would be regular passengers sailing as well.

At first Carnival told the group "no one can dress in drag outside of the special events" but then people started protesting vociferously on Facebook & other places.

Then Carnival CEO Cahill said "anyone who wants a refund can get one" - this coming from Carnival, not the group, which undoubtedly charged a lot more than the price of a regular cruise.

When people started cancelling big time, Cahill sent out another press release saying "We changed our minds, people can now dress in drag on the ship if they want to..."